By CJ Baker
David Salters spent the last two years with the City of Birmingham, Alabama, Police Department, working alongside more than 900 other officers to serve more than 210,000 people. Joining the Powell Police Department — where he’s one of 17 officers serving roughly 6,300 people — is a change of pace.

However, “this is most certainly more my speed,” Salters said.

Although he recently lived in a major metropolitan area, Salters was raised in Newport, Tennessee, which isn’t much bigger than Powell. The 30-year-old and his wife were drawn to northwest Wyoming because they were looking for a good place to start a family.

“Everybody keeps saying this is the last slice of America,” he said, “and I wanted it.”

Salters began his career with AT&T, starting out as a technician running telephone lines and then moving into management. But after seven years with the company, he decided to make the move into law enforcement.

“[I] always wanted to be a cop,” Salters said, explaining that he’s always been good at talking to people and likes to help.

Serving with the Birmingham Police Department, Salters worked as a beat cop in a specific section of the city and later joined a task force that served a broader area. He said he loved the job and the excitement of working in the “big city,” but as crime began spreading into the suburbs, he and his wife wanted to find someplace quieter to have and raise kids.

As a Powell police officer, Salters is looking forward to living in the community that he serves. “You care more,” he said, even when it comes to something as simple as picking up a stray candy bar wrapper.

The nature of the calls with the Powell PD — which can go beyond typical crime to things like pet problems and disputes between neighbors — will differ from Birmingham, but Salters feels ready for the change.

Compared to a report of a kidnapped child or a stolen car, “I would much rather help somebody find their dog that got out of the pen or help somebody that had a tree limb fall in the driveway,” he said, adding, “Lord willing, I don’t see me ever complaining about the dog calls.”

Salters replaces Officer David Ferguson, who retired in January, and his hiring puts the Powell Police Department back at a full staff of officers.